<p><b>Abstract</b>—This paper surveys performance models for distributed and replicated database systems. Over the last 20 years, a variety of such performance models have been developed and they differ in 1) <it>which</it> aspects of a real system are or are not captured in the model (e.g., replication, communication, nonuniform data access, etc.) and 2) <it>how</it> these aspects are modeled. We classify the different alternatives and modeling assumptions and discuss their interdependencies and expressiveness for the representation of distributed databases. This leads to a set of building blocks for analytical performance models. To illustrate the work that is surveyed, we select a combination of these proven modeling concepts and give an example of how to compose a balanced analytical model of a replicated database. We use this example to show how to derive meaningful performance values and to discuss the applicability and expressiveness of performance models for distributed and replicated databases. Finally, we compare the analytical results to measurements in a distributed database system.</p>